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Mondelēz International, the owner of Cadbury, Oreo and other major snack brands, has revised its animal testing policy to cover all product and ingredient testing in the UK, following a sustained campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The changes, announced this week, remove previous exemptions that allowed testing on animals 'not required by law' for nutritional science research.

The revision comes after PETA exposed experiments in which mice were force-fed human faeces and high-fat diets – practices that drew widespread public criticism.

Under the updated policy, Mondelēz now applies a no-animal-testing standard across all research activities, effectively eliminating loopholes that previously permitted testing beyond regulatory requirements.

The move reflects a wider global trend among multinational food and beverage companies to strengthen ethical standards and align with increasing consumer demand for cruelty-free products.

Animal welfare has become a reputational and commercial consideration, with retailers and consumers prioritising brands that demonstrate transparent and responsible sourcing and testing practices.

PETA’s campaign reportedly involved shareholder engagement, public protests and viral social media content, supported by more than 63,000 participants globally.

The organisation highlighted that the prior policy allowed a range of ethically questionable tests, including feeding rodents a mixture of chips, candies and glucose followed by repeated blood sampling.

Mondelēz’s revision underscores the potential commercial impact of activist campaigns in the food and beverage sector, particularly for companies operating in high-visibility categories like chocolate, confectionery and snacks.